1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tiltable earphone, and more specifically to an earphone in which the ear cushion mounted on the earphone body can be tilted freely with respect to the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an earphone is used with being inserted into the external auditory canal of the ear. At this time, in order to alleviate the pain of the external auditory canal and improve insertion maintainability, ear cushions are usually mounted on the earphone body.
The earphone body includes an outer case, which encloses and supports the sound wave generating means such as a speaker while shutting it off from an external space, and a sound wave path, which guides toward the external auditory canal a sound wave generated from the sound wave generating means. And an ear cushion is mounted on the end portion of the sound wave path.
In general, an angle made by the center line of the body and the center line of the ear cushion, namely, a tilting angle, becomes a very important element when inserting the ear cushion first into the external auditory canal and when maintaining the insertion state of the inserted ear cushion. A user may feel a specific angle to be comfortable but another user may feel the same angle to be uncomfortable. And even the same user does not prefer the same tilting angle every time he uses the earphone by inserting it into the external auditory canal. The preferred tilting angle could be different according to the condition of the day, especially the fatigability or swelling of the neck, head and/or the external auditory canal.
Therefore, it is important that the tilting angle is made so as to be adjustable.
As a conventional example, a tiltable earphone is disclosed in Korea Patent Registration No. 10-0999321 which is issued to the present applicant. The tiltable earphone disclosed in the above patent includes a speaker provided therein, an earphone body defined by the outer wall that compartments an internal space for propagating the sound generated from the speaker, and an opening that is formed at one part of the outer wall to output the sound outside. Such an earphone is characterized in that it is provided with an external auditory canal insertion portion protruded toward an external space from the opening; and an ear cushion coupled to the external auditory canal insertion portion. In the above earphone, the outer wall is made of a curved surface having a curvature of a shape narrowing as it goes toward the opening. And the external auditory canal insertion portion includes a hollow body portion which has an outer diameter smaller than the size of the inner diameter of the opening and is installed so as to be extended toward external space through the opening; and a sliding portion that blocks the gap between the outer diameter of the body portion and the inner diameter of the opening and is mounted slidably along the outer wall extended from the opening.
However, the above earphone has the following problems because the tilting of ear cushion to the earphone body is embodied by forming the opening on the outer wall of the body and mounting the sliding portion on the opening so as to be freely slidable: (1) The structural strength of the outer wall is weakened by forming the opening on the outer wall, and (2) the assembly process becomes complicated when combining the body and the sliding portion in order for the sliding portion to slide around the opening.
Meanwhile, in sound information in nature, not only the sound wave but also vibration are important information if visual information is excluded, and the brain can feel the three-dimensional sensation of the sound by sensing vibration as well as the sound wave.
But the conventional earphone is constituted in such a way that the transmission of vibration is ignored or intentionally excluded. Furthermore, if an ear cushion of soft material is mounted, transmission of vibration is thoroughly excluded, so there is a problem that it is difficult to feel the three-dimensional sensation of sound.